Sound deadener



Jan. 22, 1935. A, B, SfROUSE 1,988,880

soUND DEADENER Filed 001;. 29,` 1952 INVENTOR HIUI..

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 22, 1935 '1 i y UNITED *STATES4 PATENT oFFlcl-:-

l. y 1,988,880 g y j l soUNn DEADENEB,

l Anna B. Strouse, Fla. r Y Application october 29, 1932, serial iva-640,314"

12 claims. (o1. 12s-,152)

This invention relates to a sound deadener for cup to conform `to the contour ofithe esh as it protecting the ears and has for its principal obis tov shape the ofn the cup Vto ythe. contour ject the provision of a device for excluding noise of the temporal bones containing the organs of from the ear, and deadening those soundfvibrahearing. This is especially important .where the 5 tions which interfere with sleep, reading or study, ear cups arefmade of glass or similarsubstance 5;

such as those due to the radio, talking, the 'telel which when sufficiently thick'is non-responsive phone bell, building operations, playing children,y to sound waves. 1 trains, trolley cars, automobiles, etc. I have discovered thatfmanypeople suffering Another object is to provide meansfor coverfrom certain nervous disorders are apparently im- 1.0` ing the ears in such a manner as to exclude every mune to sounds which distract the ordinary perl vibration possible and which nts the contour of yson but the nervous condition` ofpthese` people the temporal bones particularly the` Zygomatic is greatly aggravated byacontinual noise'or din in frontr of the ear, thelspace between vthe mastoid which trouble the ordinary person but little, for and mandible under `thelobule and' the slight example,thatuexperienced:inlcities, particularly l depressionat thesuture between the temporal in large .offices and` mills, and "fat busy street 15 and the mastojd, i i f intersections. Onefof the primaryobjects]ofmyv Another object isto provide an ear covering of invention isto completely shutout ,all din even a material that is noneresponsive to sound waves tho some of the sharper Isoundsmay not be 'ex-k and of such. thickness as to be immune to -all eluded. 2o sound waveswithin' the* auditory range:l f f i l Still another object is to provide a device 'that tol direct sound,` waves into' the auditory llcanal is sanitary and easily cleaned and one which and natur'ehas'evolveda 'highlyeflcient *device can be repeatedly sterilized without injury. for' this purpose. vIt have discovered thatrby dis- It is well known thatA the cause of nervous distorting 'the helix the longer sound waves are orders with many people is the fact that Athey are further deadened and for this reason the ear cups 25 continuously subjected to irritating noises and it arel made relativelynarrow soas to bend vthe helix, is 'one Yof the objects. of this invention` to provide however'not to such an extent' esto cause discom'-, means whereby such persons: may enjoyabsolute fort. This expedient serves thejfurtherfunction' quiet without quitting their noisy environment; of preventing any vibration of thebottom wall Numerousdevices have been invented to give' re-y of the ear cup. 30 lief from these noises but `thru `extensive re-4 In the drawingn search I have found that none of these accom- Figure l is a view showing the invention in use. plish the purpose for which they were invented. Figure 2 is a front elevation. The chief difculty with allqof these previous de- Figure 3 is aviewlooking into the ear cup. vices is that the inventor has ignored two im- Figure 4 is a sideelevation. portant factors, one that' the ear covering itself Figure 5 is a section 'on line 5 5 of Figure 3. should not transmit sound vibrations and the n Figure 6 is a horizontal section on line 6 6 of other Athat when a non-transmitting materialr is Figure 3. used for covering the ear it should not rest too FigureA 7 is a View showing myimproved head rmly on any of the various temporal bones since band for supporting the ear pieces. y 40 the usually thin layer of* flesh at these points The ear cup orcoveringl 10 is' elongated and will be compressed to such an extent that it'fails shaped to receive the auricle but thev cavity is to perform its sound deadening function and 'bemade sufciently Ismall so as to bring the innerv cause of this sound Waves impinging on the ear walls against the auricle especially at the helix 11 cup aretransmitted directly to the ear even tho whereby any vibration which may be setup in 45 theperson is not aware of any disturbance. vAfter the cup Walls is muted and arrested bythe enexperimenting with a great many materials I gagement. On therear wall14 are provided two have discovered that the one giving the maximum loops 15 'for receiving the supporting strap 16 satisfaction is glass which, when made suiilciently which ispreferably of fabric. BetweenV the two thick, will respond to no ordinary sound wave. loops is positionedthe boss 17 having irri'tsr cene 50 The'sound deadening` eifect is increased by conter a groove 18. This boss causes a gripping enstructing this cup to t the contour of the several gagement with the strap and in case the strap is temporal bones and incidentally but not necesnot used permits the use of a fastener, prefersarily to nt the contour of the flesh about the ably of wood, having at its lower end an inwardear. That is, it is not so important to shape the 1y directed projection 20 which engages the 55 It is weu'kow that the'runctionof thehenx is 2o.

groove 18 of the boss 1'7, and having at its upper end a fork 21 to receive the free end of a U- shaped band or strap 19 also preferably of wood, the fork operating in much the same manner as a clothes pin for securely connecting the lower part with the band and for providing means for adjusting the height of the ear cup in order that the device may t different sized heads. As the band 19 is made of wood it will be seen that no metal whatsoeveris usedin the structure.v 1

As isibest seenin Figure 3 it is important that the forward wall of each earl cup be provided with contours 24 and 25, the former being shaped to fit the Zygomatic bone at the temporal-maxilliary joint and the latter contour being shaped to correspond to the contour of the fleshdirectly in front of the lobule.r Ihe lower n wallv of the structure is curved and-slightly extended at the rim to iit the suture between the temporal and the mastoid. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the rear wall follows the curve of the mastoid'and is given a slant atr 26 tocorresp'ond to that'of this bone. It is=important that .thecurvature of the cup should follow. asnear asgpossible thecurvature of the mastoid since theV cavities inthisbone are connected directly to the tympanum and any vibration that may be set up in .the cup will be transmitted thru `this bone :to the ear drum.

When the cup is made of glass as I prefer it shall'be, itis limportant that. the thickness be suflicient to exclude the many annoying sounds that are to be prevented `from reaching the ear. On thel other hand ituis equally obvious thatif the walls are too thick the weight ofthe device makes thewearing of it `quite uncomfortable. My expermentsjindicate'that a thickness'of about a quarter 'of j an inch produces' fthe results desired without sacrifice of comfort. 'a i "f In Figure 'l is shown the preferred shape' of the supporting band'19`which gives best' results when made of jhickory. Being generally U-shaped the bandis provided with a` curved portion 30` and two straight portionsl and`,32. `V The 'lattergportions are made straight in order to have'adjustable engagement with the forks 21 and to conform to the sides of'thevhead so that the ear cups `10'will be held snugly against the ear.

WhatI claimis:`

1'.' In a sound deadener, an auriformglass cup for covering the ear, said cup having 'walls of su'icient thicknessas not to vibrate vin harmony with the usual sound waves whichjwould normally interfere with sleep or: conce'ntratioml characterized by the rim of the cup being curved to iit .the contour of the temporal and-the mastoid bones, whereby the "fleshf'ab'out the ear acts' as the sole cushioning means between the 'rigid cup and said bones. c

2. The device of Vclaim 1 which the thickness of the cup is about Ia quarter of an inch. "3. vIn a soundv deadener, anlauriform glass cup for covering the ear, said cup having walls of sufficient thicknessasnot to` vibrate in harmony with the usual sound waves which would normally interfere with sleep or concentration, char-` acterized bythe rim yof thecup `being curved to iit the contour of those bonesof the skull which surround the ear orifice whereby the `flesh about theear. acts as `the sole cushioning means between the rigid cup and said bones.

4. The cup of claim 3 further characterized by the cavity of the cup being suiliciently shallow in depth as to contact with the auricle when applied to a wearer.

5. In a sound deadener, an elongated glass cup for covering the ear, said cup having walls of such thickness as to be non-responsive to sound waves, the rims of said cup being curved to iit the contour of the temporal and mastoid bones, an integral loop on the exterior bottom Wall for receivingv a supporting strap, `and a boss. spaced from said loop, said boss having a groove therein normal to the opening in said loop.

,. 6. In 'a sound deadener, an elongated glass cup `for covering the ear, said cup having walls of such thickness as to be non-responsive to sound Waves, the rims of said cup being curved to iit the contour of the temporal and mastoid bones, two spaced loops on the exterior bottom wall and a boss between the loops, said boss having a recess for receiving a lug on a cup supporting band.

7. In a sound deadener, an elongated glass cup for covering the ear, said cup having walls of such thickness as to be non-responsive to sound waves, the rims of said cup being curved to fit the contour of the temporal and mastoid bones, two spaced loops on the exterior bottom Wall and a boss between the loops rising above the level of the top of the opening in one of said loops.

8. In an ear protector, a cup for covering the ear, a loop on the outer bottom wall of the cup, a boss on said wallspaced from said loop, said boss having a central transverse groove therein, a wood strip in the loop, said strip having a lug at the bottom for engaging in said groove, a U- shaped band for looping over the head for engaging said strip and supporting said cup.

9..The ,device of claim 8 in which the upper part of said-stripisforked.for frictional engagementwith `the end of said band.

i101V In an 'ear protector, a cup having a rim shaped approximately to iit the contour of the bones around theear, a loop on vthe outer wall of the cup, a recessed boss on said wall spaced from and substantially parallel to said loop, means for supporting said cup comprising a resilient U-shaped band, amember extending thru said loop for connecting the cup to said band, said memberl having va lug at one endV for engaging in said recess and being bifurcated at the other end for frictionally engaging an end of said band.

11. The device of claim in which said bifurcated end is resilient whereby the member may be moved to fork more or less.` of the band end to adjust the 'height of the cup as desired.

12; In an ear protector, a glass cup for covering the ear, aloop on the outer bottom wall of the cup, a boss on saidwall spaced from said loop, said boss having a central transverse groove therein, a wood strip in the loop, said strip having a lug at the bottom for engaging in said groove, a U-shaped band for looping over the head for engaging said'strip and supporting said cup, and a second loop provided in spaced relation from said iirst loop, said loops being elongated and flat whereby to provide legs for holding said cup upright when detached from the strip and placed on a supporting surface. ANNA B. STROUSE. 

